So, I know I haven’t been writing on here much but hey (insert excuses here).

Anyways, I am writing today to inform the internet that I am almost done with the first draft of my novel and that terrifies me.

What happens when its done? What do I do then? I need a freaking title still!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

…….

Okay, I’m better now. I am also excited that its almost finished. Sure, there is a LOT of editing to do, but its something to work off of now and I am so excited for it to finally be finished. Its crazy to think that this is something that I have worked on (or put off working on) for years now and I’m finally close to being done.

Maybe someday it will be published and then I could do book tours! What if became a movie! (a good movie, not an awful book/ movie remake…) The possibilities are endless.

So, if you don’t here from me again soon its because I have been consumed with book writing/ editing or stuck in my room banging my head on a wall to get rid of writer’s block.(hey, its the name of the blog).

Hello everyone! Miss me?
Yeah, I know. It’s been awhile since I’ve done this but hey, I was out of the country.
But I’m home now and Christmas has come and gone which means new years is soon and that means new years resolutions that will be made but never followed through on.

Its almost that time of year again! Time to hide away for a month, attempt to write a story, inevitably fail, and then feel accomplished at what you did write. Thats right folks, its time for National Novel Writing Month! Unfortunately, this year I am studying abroad in England so finding time to write out 50,000 words in a story will prove difficult, but I will give it my best shot. I have a new idea for a story that I want to write so we shall see if that will take my focus or if my other story will continue to take my focus, which it probably won’t because all of my other drafts and papers and research I need for it are at home.

This year I want to try and write a sci-fi, end of the world story dealing with climate change. I have written a sort of prologue/ background chapter already, which I will put at the end of this blog, and I hope to continue with this idea. It started awhile ago when I wrote a visual short story about a world underwater, but it wasn’t a story as much as a writing exercise, but I liked the idea of the ocean covering most of the world so its one that I am going to go with.

So, here is my outline thingy. Enjoy!

Through the years the ice in the northern and southern poles melted. Slowly, at first, but gradually picking up speed as the seasons grew warmer. Drop by drop the glaciers sweat, their thousands of years being frozen coming to an end.

At first, no one noticed this phenomenon. Sure, summers lasted longer, winters steadily grew warmer; but no one was complaining. People went about their day ignoring the news of the rising temperatures and recurring natural disasters.

No one cared until the last wild emperor penguin died, unable to live in the frozen wonderland anymore. No one cared until the polar bears migrate so far south that they had started living in Michigan and North Dakota. No one cared until Manhattan started flooding more and more every year and with every rainfall.

No one cared, until it was too late.

People said they cared, but they didn’t do anything about it. They were too concerned with finding life on other planets to stop and think about the one they lived on. Politicians were too concerned with becoming senator or president; big businesses knew what was happening but were more concerned about how they would do in the next quarter.

People started to move inland, not wanting to live near the ocean for fear of the tsunamis and hurricanes that decimated New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and so many more that the newscasters lost count. Thousands died from disease, thousands more from starvation, and thousands more from dehydration. Those who survived lived in fear, unable to sleep without one eye open. Children no longer knew about iPads, television, or even cell phones. These were luxuries no one could afford anymore.

It wasn’t long before the government’s collapsed. Once the islands in the world disappeared, politicians and the rich alike fled. Some speculated that they went underground, others say they finally finished the space ships and fled to the space stations in orbit.

All the while, the earth continued flooding. Once the ice was melted there was hardly any land left. Parts of North America and Europe stayed intact with its few remaining citizens trying to rebuild societies. Asia and Africa were better off land wise and Australia was nothing more than a coral reef.

Humans persevere. Through disease, war, and disasters. Human beings have the innate urge to survive just like any other animal, but this urge doesn’t kick in until their lives are truly at stake. The heat may be unbearable at times, water may be scarce, food may be lacking, yet they survive. The earth isn’t going to kill us. Nor does it want to. The only thing that can erase the human race is the human race.

My gosh we are nearly halfway done with the semester. Noooooooo! There is still so much to do and time is running out! Midterms are next week and then the Scotland trip is the week after that. Papers are starting to be written and tests will be taken and school shall be done.

There are still a lot of shows I want to see here as well. Wicked is at the top of my list and I meant to go the past few days but this sinus cold thing is really getting me down. Nothing but headaches and congestion for me.

Yesterday in acting class a Musical Theatre Director came to teach us and we sang a song and learned some new warm-up exercises. It was really cool and both our teacher and the director were amazed at how quickly we accomplished learning the song and getting it down really well. Today we went to a musical showcase and saw graduates from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama perform in front of agents and casting directors. The process of becoming an actor is so different here because there are no open auditions. Casting people will contact you if they want you to audition.

Anyways, fall break will be nice and it also means my birthday is in two weeks which is weird and I keep forgetting that it is soon. 21 years old. Weird…..

So tonight we saw a show called F**k the Polar Bears. If you can’t tell from the weird title its about the environment, something I’m totally down for talking about. However this show was, to say the least, terrible. I wanted to like it because I can appreciate the message its trying to get across. But the problem was, after I watched it I wasn’t completely sure what the message was anymore. Should we try and do something to help the environment? Or is the problem to massive and we are just fucked? The show boiled down to poor writing. There was too much thrown into the script that was unnecessary and it led to no chracter arc, no resolution, and nothing interesting happening. None of the characters were believable, I sympathized with none of them, and I didn’t really understand what relationships they had with each other, other than the surface ones. It was, overall, badly written material. Even in the Q and A afterwards the man who played Gordon said that he “didn’t delve that deeply into the research”, which means to me that he didn’t take the time to learn about the issues his character would have been dealing with.

Ugh. I hate when theatre tries to make its meaning really obvious. It becomes preachy and not something I want to watch.

Would not recommend. More to come later probably. Going to Bath, Salisbury, and Stonehenge this weekend! Weeeeeeeeeeee

If you can’t tell by the title then get better glasses cause I went to the Harry Potter Studios and got to see all the sets, props, costumes, creatures, castles, drawings, and so much more. I may have cried a few times. Maybe more than a few times.

It was breathtaking to walk through the doors of hogwarts into the great hall. Every part of my inner child was screaming with excitement. The tables were lined with dishes and dumbledore (well, a mannequin with his robes on) stood at the front of the room with the rest of the professors. Moaning myrtle, Cedric Diggory, and 11 year old Harry’s robes were on display next to their respective houses.

Once you leave the great hall its just a maze of costumes, props, and sets. Dumbledore’s office, Gryffindor Common room, Potions Classroom, Ministry of Magic, Umbridge’s office, and so much more.

Then, you leave the first studio, walk down a hallway, and enter platform 9 3/4. The train was there, steam puffing from its engine. We walked through the railcar and sat in the seats. It was magical to say the least.

After the platform is the cafe where we drank some butterbeer cause its apparently one of only 3 places in the world to serve it. Between the two studios are some of the larger props. The knight bus, 4 Privet Drive, Godric’s Hollow, and the bridge at hogwarts.

Then you go into the next studio where they have all the creatures. Fawkes, Aragog, Buckbeak, the Basilisk, all the goblins masks, replicas of the actors, animatronics, and models for mermaids and werewolves.

Then comes one of my favorite parts: Diagon Alley. Olivanders, Gringotts, Weasley Wizard Weezes, Flourish and Blotts, all of the shops any wizard or witch would need.

Then we got to see the original drawings and models for the sets. There was so much concept art and it was all beautiful. There was even a tiny paper model of hogwarts.

AND THEN YOU TURN A CORNER AND THE MUSIC IS TRIUMPHANT AND HOGWARTS CASTLE IS THERE IN ALL OF ITS GLORY AND YOU CRY CAUSE YOU FOUND IT AND YOUR CHILDHOOD IS COMPLETE.